A Pirate's Pillow Talk
by Mlle. Phoenix Fox
Summary: JackOC: A modern day girl finds herself a ghostly and gorgeous roommate
1. Chapter 1

A Pirate's Pillow Talk

"I'm looking for dark, exotic, and elegant. Strong, handsome, with just a touch of whimsy." _I know what you're thinking. I'm describing a hunk of man, not a hunk of furniture. Well, I hate to disappoint you, but the only thing I was looking to sleep with is a bed for my brand new, first class, single bedroom loft apartment with huge bay windows and a great view of Louisville, Kentucky. I had just graduated college and I had a sweet job as an advice columnist for a new magazine called "Southern Belle". I was on top of the world. I had a great job, great apartment, great friends and yes, I had a great relationship with my family. Then he came into my life. He just wanted the same thing I did. To sleep in a bed._

_It all started when I decided to actually spend money and buy a real bed frame for my bed. Seeing as to how I didn't want to spend a fortune, I cruised flea markets, warehouses, Wal-Mart. But none had what I wanted. Then, I found this old antique shop. It specialized in things old and with a story. After I had told the man I wanted something, dark, exotic, elegant, etc., the shopkeeper led me to the basement where all the bed frames were kept. Great looking wood frames grabbed my eye, but none like the dark black mahogany four poster bed in the corner._

"How much for this one?" _I asked, fingering the elegant cravings. The bald man with Dunlap's disease in his midsection sweated out, _

"Uh...you don't want this bed."

"Sure I do! It's beautiful!"_ I said._

_"_Beautiful yes, but..."

"But?"_ I asked dragging the word out. _

"It's haunted."_ he said as if someone were listening._

"Haunted?"_ I asked with a raised eyebrow._

"Yes. This bed was created for a pirate captain in the late 17th century. He mysteriously died one night on his way to bed. Now, it's said that his ghost follows this bed around. For all he wants is to spend eternity in his final resting spot." _he finished._

"Yeah...how much?"_ I asked ignoring his cautious tone._

"You don't believe me?" _ he asked._

"Nope."

"But I tell you miss, strange things have happened since I got this bed. Things that just can't be explained..."_ he said._

_"_HOW much?"_ I asked trying to put on my most polite smile. He sighed and said, _

"$500."

"$500! Sir I can't take this bed for so little!"_ I argued._

"If you insist on taking this bed, than I'm not going to take your money. Do we have a deal Miss?" _he said extending his chubby hand. I shrugged, _

"Works for me!"_ At that moment, I distinctly felt a hand pat my rear end hard._

"Ow!"_ I said._

"I'm sorry!" _he said taking his hand back. Rubbing my bottom, I said, _

"Oh no! It wasn't you...it...never mind. When can you deliver the bed?"_ And so I was the owner of a beautiful bed at only $500 bucks. They sent it over that afternoon and got it set up. It rains quite often here in Kentucky and when it does rain it rains hard. The storm was raging outside that night I put my new bedspread on the mattress. There's a little balcony attached to my room by bay window, and it was at the moment I finished making the bed, that the plantation shutters flew open, letting in rain and wind and an unusual chill for August. I hastily shut the window and stopped. I looked around the room, but all was as it should be. But something was off. Call it intuition, a woman's instinct or just an overactive imagination at work, but something else was in my room. A strong presence. I shrugged it off and began to get undressed for bed. _

_I took off my shirt and my bra when I felt a warm fingertip go down my spine. I gasped and spun around only to find nothing._

"Who's there_?" I demanded. Silence. Once again, I shrugged it off and I got my pajamas on. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and whatnot. But when I got back to my room, the strange presence was stronger. Ignoring it, I went to the bed, pulled back the covers and slipped in. I shut off the light and snuggled down into the covers allowing the raindrops to lull me to sleep. _

_But I did not sleep peacefully. I dreamt that warm, calloused hands began to rub up and down against my legs. They moved up my hips to my torso reaching underneath my shirt. They hesitated upon reaching my chest, and decided to do my arms and my shoulders instead. The moved up to my neck. And then the rubbing stopped. The hands simply caressed my face gently. And then a strong, masculine voice whispered in my ear, _

"Get out of me bed, Luv."_ That was when I woke up with a start. I looked around the dark bedroom, but nothing was there. I rubbed my own arms as if trying to wipe of the feeling that had come over me in the dream. I tried to go back to sleep, but thoughts of the dream kept me up all night._

_That was the routine every night that week. I'd go to sleep, have the dream, stay up the rest of the night, and then be exhausted the next day. It wasn't until I was out to lunch with my friends Christy and Crystal that I realized I could fall asleep sitting up._

"Alice!" _shouted Crystal. I snapped my head up and blushed in embarrassment as the other people around the cafe giggled at me. Wiping one of my golden brown curly layers out of my green eyes, I said, _

_"_Sorry."

_"_Don't mention it."_ said Christy taking a bite out of her burger. At least I think it was Christy. Being identical twins, sometimes it's hard to tell the two raven haired, dark eyed black girls with brown skin apart. Usually, I can tell if Christy ordered a burger and Crystal ordered a salad. The only difference between them physically, was that Crystal had to work extra hard to stay in shape, while Christy could go to an all you can eat buffet a size ten and leave a size ten by the time she was done the next morning. But it was one of those days, Crystal couldn't say no to a burger. Dang it._

"So what's with you? You've been exhausted all week." _said Christy._

"Yeah. Is it the magazine working you too hard?" _said Crystal taking off the mustard and ketchup of her burger. (Thank goodness for that, or I'd never tell them apart!)_

_"_No, I've been having this weird dream...it's been keeping me up at nights."

"What's it about?" _asked Christy chewing on her fries. I sighed and I began to tell them the dream. But when I looked up at them again, they were rubbing ice down their necks and sighing._

"Wow!"_ said Crystal._

"No wonder you've been kept up at night!" _giggled Christy. I smiled and said, _

"Well, If that's all the help you're going to be..."

"We're sorry Al, but let's face it. Sounds like your unconscious is trying to get you have a fantasy or two. I bet it wouldn't hurt if you just go with the dream and let it play out. Then you'll be rid of the dream." _ Did I mention Christy was a psychology student? Annoying isn't it?_

"So how would I go about doing that?" _ I asked skeptically._

"Prepare for it. Dress in sexy lingerie, put on perfume, and just try to focus on letting the dream continue, by saying, 'Make me!'"_ said Christy._

"'Make me?'"_ I said as Christy nodded. I looked to her sister and said, _

"You live with this?"

"She was like this in the womb!"_ said Crystal dryly._

_So that night, I did as Christy said. I put on pick lace boy short underwear, and a pick satin and lace trimmed teddie. I dabbed on perfume, and then I crawled into the covers. I even posed in a sexy position. It was the dumbest thing I ever did, but so help me I fell asleep anyway. The dream came right on cue, but this time it was different. This time, the hands pulled the covers slowly off my body. I felt a weight sit on the bed. The rubbing began again, but this time, it was slower. So slow, I even felt the cold metal of a ring on one of the hands. Then to my shock, I felt a pair of warm lips kiss my body parts as they were being rubbed. Finally, the rubbing stopped and the voice whispered, _

"Get out of me bed Luv!"

"Make me!"_ I whispered expecting more. But the voice only spoke in a normal volume and said, _

_"_Your funeral." _The weight lifted of my bed. I was slightly disappointed. What happened? Before I could ponder that, I felt my mattress tilting up to one side and my body soon rolled off with a thump to the floor._

"Eek!"_ I shrieked. I sat up, realizing I was fully awake as the voice, a slightly slurred British said, _

"Much better!"_ I looked over to the bed and gasped. There, reclining on the bed was a long lean figure of a man, wearing the most unusual clothes. A yellowed white poet's shirt, homespun blue cotton vest with gold buttons, a long ragged red and white sash wrapped around his slim waist. Gray knickers and big tan boots folded over to his crossed ankles. His hair was a dark, elaborate mess of braids, dreadlocks and trinkets with a red scarf around his forehead for good measure. His face and hands were golden tanned, his beard hastily trimmed and plated into two braids at the goatee. His mustache curling over his playful cocky grin. His cheekbones were high, and his face lean. His nose was long and his eyes lined with a black substance. He opened his big, chocolate brown eyes and lazily said to me, his hands behind his head, _

_"_Like what you see, Luv?"_ I looked at him and said, _

_"_Who are you?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow. The only and the one, Savvy? Now be a doll, and shut up. I'm trying to get some sleep!"_ he said closing his eyes once more._

"In MY bed?"_ I asked not believing what was happening._

_"_NO! In MY bed, Savvy?"_ he said not opening his eyes._

"YOUR bed! Are you nuts this is MY bed!"_ I said._

"Sorry Luv, but you are sadly mistaken! This would be MY bed, since I had it made for me, I slept in it, I fought ten years to get it and my ship back from a treacherous dog, and I died here, among some more enjoyable things. So as you can plainly see, it be MY bed."_ he recited._

"Wait...did you say...DIED?"_ I squeaked out._

"D-I-E-D Luv. Died!" _he said._

"Are...are you saying, you're a ghost?" _I asked._

"Does the tide still come in?"_ he answered. I got up and said rushing over to the phone, _

"You're NUTS! I don't know, who you are or what you want, but I'm calling the...GASP!"_ I dropped the phone in horror as I looked back to the bed and saw he was floating in the air, two feet above the bed. FLOATING! He was still in the same position, only he had his head turned over to me, his dark eyes boring into me as he said, _

"Satisfied?"

"Whu...whu...whu..."_I stuttered. He sighed and floated back down to the bed._

"Sorry to scare you Darlin'. But do you know a better way for a ghost to prove he's telling the truth?"_ he asked._

_"_No." _I whispered. He shrugged and settled back into the pillow saying, _

_"_There you are then."_ I slowly went over to the lamp and switched it on. Sighing again, he opened his eyes and said, _

_"_I can't sleep with the light on Luv."

"If you're a ghost, why do you need to sleep?"_ I asked._

_"_Don't know. I just feel like I need to."_ he said._

"Because you died on you're way to bed?"_ I asked remembering the story the shopkeeper told me._

_"_No, because I get sleepy!"_ he said as if explaining things to a child._

_"_Oh."_ I said confused._

"Look Luv. I can't explain it, but I still get sleepy, thirsty and hungry...by the way...you might want to pick up more chicken...seeing as to how it's all gone now!"_ he said with a playful grin._

"I wondered where that went to..."_ I said eyeing him._

"Now will you let me go to sleep?"_ he asked._

"No! Not in my bed_!" I said crossing my arms. _

"Here we go again! I thought we had this part settled already!"_ he said propping up on his elbows. _

_"_Well we don't! I paid a lot of money for this bed and legally it's mine!"_ I said pointing to myself._

"You only paid $500 dollars for it, not even an eighth of its value. I paid infinitely more just to have it made!"_ he said._

_"_Wait, how did you know what I paid for it...unless..."_ I said as he began to grin wickedly. "_You slapped my butt that day at the antique shop didn't you?" _I asked. He shrugged and said, _

"Couldn't resist mate!"

"Oh! And I suppose you were behind the dreams too?"_ I asked angrily._

_"_One, they weren't dreams Luv. You were awake, just not completely, And two...you seemed to enjoy them."_ As he said this last part, he leered his eyes up and down my body making me look down to realize I was not dressed properly for just wanting to sleep._

_"_GASP!"_ I cried grabbing my terry cloth robe nearby frantically trying to cover up._

"Aww...don't be ashamed Luv. You got a cute little figure! Sides, I haven't seen a naked woman in over three centuries. Indulge me!"_ he pleaded thoroughly amused as I shut my robe shooting darts at him with my eyes, _

"I thought you were just a repressed sex fantasy! I was trying to work through it so I could end the dream and get some sleep!"

"Well, you should have told me. I would have let you...work through it..."_ he said with a slight growl to his deep voice and a smug look to his face._

"How...I would never...oh! Just get out!"_ I huffed._

"No I'm comfy!"_ he argued._

"Out!"_ I yelled pointing to the door. He looked me over for a second before sitting up and saying, _

"All right you win."

"I do?"_ I asked suspiciously as he stood, his frame towering over me. He nodded and said leading me over to the door, _

"I can tell my presence has inconvienced you and caused an unhealthy lack of sleep."

"It has."_ I said as he opened the bedroom door._

"So you shall never have to worry about losing sleep again..."_ he said as I smiled. _"...for that couch downstairs, looked mighty comfortable. Goodnight!" _ And as he said this, he pushed me out the door and shut it . I got up from the floor just as I heard the lock click. I jiggled the knob, and pounded on the door, yelling, _

"HEY! OPEN UP! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PAL?"

"Pirate!"_ came the muffled voice within._

"OH! YOU SLIME BALL! YOU GET OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW! THAT'S MY BED AND MY ROOM! WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN, YOU ARE SO..."_ I trailed off before I said, _

"Dead?"_ offered the smug voice from within. I just sighed in exasperation and walked back downstairs, hearing a distinct chuckle from the bedroom. I curled up on the couch that was plush, but a little too short and narrow, the thin chenille throw covering me and pounding the cushions, wishing it could be a dead pirates face. I finally got to sleep, but I tossed and turned trying to get comfy. All the while wishing, I had never bought that bed._


	2. Chapter 2

_When I woke up the next morning, I distinctly smelled fresh bacon. I opened my eyes and peeled myself off the couch, literally hearing every bone in my bone squeak in protest like a rusty gate. I stretched trying to get every ache and pain out when I heard a British male voice from the kitchen, _

"...and really bad eggs...drink up me hearties yo ho!"

"Oh no!" _I muttered to myself my eyes wide with disbelief. The ghost pirate came into the large living room, setting a plate of eggs on the dining table._

_"_Mornin' Luv!... Sleep well?" _he asked cheerfully with a hint of mischief in his eyes._

_"_Please tell me I'm dreaming!"_ I pleaded putting my forehead into my hand._

"Alright, you're dreaming. Ain't the truth but since you asked nicely.._."he joked before going back into the kitchen._

"Oy Vey!"_ I groaned. He returned to the room with a plate of bacon this time._

"Aw...what's the matter lass? Didn't you get a good nights rest?"_ he asked condescendingly. I stood up and stomped over to him._

"You know perfectly well I didn't sleep well! You kicked me out of MY room and you slept in MY bed!"_ I snapped at him. He rolled his eyes, _

_"_Missy, we've already discussed this. The bed is mine!"

_"_Then where am I supposed to sleep huh? I can't take another night of that couch!" _ I said. Putting on a wistful grin, he drew circles on my upper arm and said seductively, _

"Well, we could always...share the bed...among other things..."_ I jerked away from him and said, _

"Look, what did you say your name was again?" _ Agitated now, he said, _

_"_Sparrow, Luv. CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow!"

"Captain Sparrow, I am not going to share anything with you! Not my bed, my room, my apartment, my food and ESPECIALLY... NOT me!" _I told him. Crossing his arms, he said, _

"Just one thing wrong with your plan Luv."

"What's that?"_ He leaned into my face and said, _

"The bed...is mine!"

"EEEERRRRRR!"_ I screamed sitting down in a huff. He shook his head, _

"You are entirely too worked up Darlin'!"

"Gee, I wonder why?"_ I said sarcastically rubbing my sore neck. Then, Captain Sparrow began to massage my neck and shoulders melting the pain away. Before I could protest he said, _

"Shhuush! Just relax Luv!" _ In defeat I sat in silence enjoying the neck rub despite myself. Looking back, I don't know why I didn't question how a ghost could be so solid and warm. Maybe I was too distracted. I sighed, _

"I'm not going to get rid of you am I?"

"Nope!"_ he said continuing to rub. Blowing out air and sputtering my lips, I said, _

_"_I guess I have no choice. But I WILL be sleeping in the bed!"

"Sorry Luv, but I never share my bed with a woman who just wants to sleep!"_ he said._

_"_Then where am I supposed to sleep?" _I asked. He shrugged, _

"I heard the floor is excellent for your back!"

"Oh no! I am going to sleep in that bed, mark my words! No matter what you do!"_ I said. He stopped rubbing and whispered in my ear, _

_"_Let the games begin!" _Then he straightened up and said pulling a chair out for himself, _

"Now, you hungry?"

"You mean you're going to share food with me?"_ I asked._

"Of course! You bought it, and I'm not the type of person to starve someone to death!" _he said fixing me a plate. Taking the plate from him, I said, _

_"_Just the kind to deprive me of sleep!" _He grinned wickedly and winked at me,_

_"_Precisely!"_ But before we could eat, my doorbell rang. Looking fearfully at Captain Sparrow, he just nodded and said, _

"Go on and answer it!"_ When I didn't move he said, "_Go on woman!"_ I got up and opened the door, finding a really cute muscular blond man with brown highlights and gray eyes. I smiled and said, _

_"_May I help you?"_ He smiled too causing my cheeks to flush. He held up a newspaper and said, _

"I think this is yours. They delivered it to my apartment by mistake."_ As I took the paper from him, I said,_

"Thank you...Mr...?"

"My name's Todd. Todd Scott. Nice to meet you!" _he said extending his hand. I shook it saying, _

"Alice Rivers. Nice to meet you too!"

"Wow, something smells delicious in here!"_ he said._

"Yeah...it's my breakfast...Todd? Tell me something...do you notice anything...odd in here?"_ I asked looking back to Captain Sparrow who was sitting at the table intently watching us._

"Odd? Like what?" _he asked his eyes scanning the room._

"Just something...that doesn't belong here..."_I shrugged at him. He shook his head, _

_"_Nothing that I can see. You have a great apartment!"

_"_Thank you! Say, would you like to join me for breakfast?"_ I asked Todd sweetly eyeing Captain Sparrow out the corner of my eye. He wasn't too happy. Stepping in, Todd said, _

"I'd love to! If you don't mind!"

"Not at all! I bought the food, so I decide what happens to it! Besides, I'm not the type of person to starve someone...to death..."_I said fixing the other plate, Captain Sparrow's plate, for Todd. Todd took it from me and sat down as I sat down smiling at Captain Sparrow who was fuming silently across from Todd. About an hour later, Todd left, I edger to see him again, and Captain Sparrow glared at me and said, _

"THAT wasn't very nice Luv!"

"Neither was keeping me up at night and taking my bed from me!"_ I pointed out as I gathered the dishes._

"You think yourself smart for taking advantage that he couldn't see me and for finding a way to get me back. But I'm a ghost Missy. I don't need food!" _he said. Then a loud growl erupted from his stomach in objection. _

"Well, that's settle's that!" _ I said dryly as he looked sheepishly defeated for the moment. As I made my way to the kitchen, I asked, _

"Why couldn't he see you anyway?"

"Only people who try to talk to me can see me. When you said and I quote, 'Make me!', you became one of the privileged few to gaze upon my handsome features!" he said putting his boots on the table._ I came back from the kitchen and said dryly, _

"I knew I shouldn't have listened to Christy and her psycho mumbo jumbo!"

"Who's Christy?"_ he asked._

"My friend." _ I answered._

"Well do us a favor and pass that Todd Scott whelp off to her Savvy? He'll do you no good!" _he said picking up a section of newspaper._

"Why?"_ I asked._

"You're too good for the likes of him. He'll only end up breaking your heart!"_ he said._

"What business is it of yours?" _ I asked him putting my hand on my hip._

"Well since we're going to be, pardon the expression, LIVING together, and you are the one who will be buying the food, I figure I try to keep you as happy as I possibly can!"_ he said opening the paper._

_"_Then let me have the bed!"_ I said. He looked up at me and smugged, _

_"_Nice try!"_ I rolled my eyes and said going towards the stairs by the windows, _

"I'm going to get dressed!"

"Like some help?" _he yelled up to me._

_"_Dream on!"_ I yelled down to him as I heard him chuckle again. That day was, to say the least, the most interesting day of my life. I went around town in a daze trying to figure out my mysterious new roommate. But most importantly, I was trying to figure out a way to get my room back! That evening I came home from work, to find Jack watching cartoons on the couch. He was laughing hysterically, and for a minute I thought he looked kinda cute. I mean come on, it's endearing to find a macho man like a pirate cracking up at Bugs Bunny's antics. But to my disappointment, Jack noticed my standing in the front door way, and he turned off the TV and stood up, trying to make his face a blank stone._

_"_Miss Rivers!"_ he addressed me haughtingly._

_"_Captain Sparrow."_ I returned closing the door. _

"Was your work intellectually stimulating today?"_ he asked._

_"_Very. Was Bugs Bunny's rendition of Figero intellectually stimulating?"_ I asked back. Making his way towards the kitchen, he only said, _

"I shan't honor that remark."_ I smiled watching him leave the room. A little later, I was sitting on the bed typing on my laptop when Jack entered the room._

_"_Don't you knock?" _I asked._

_"_Don't get too comfy Luv. At the start of third watch, I shall be retiring!"_ he said. _

"You're going to miss 'Third Watch'?"_ I asked. He leaned into my face and said, _

"That's sailor's time Luv. NOT the TV show!"

"Oh." _I said as he started to fluff the pillows._

"What are you typing?"

"My advice column. Do you mind?"_ I said returning my attention to the monitor. Much to my chagrin, he sat beside me on the bed and read over my shoulder, _

_"'Dear Alice, _

_I've been in love with a beautiful girl for three years now. I try to talk to her, but the problem is she is so rich and classy, that I have nothing in common with her since I'm a poor blue collar who works for her father. What should I do? Signed, Hopeless.' _Huh! Should say, signed, Whelp! Although Hopeless does describe him as well!"

"He is not hopeless and he is not a whelp!"_ I protested._

"Yes he is! I knew a bloke just like him! A blacksmith who for eight years pined after the Governor of Port Royal's daughter! Spent three hours a day, practicing with swords 'cause he had no other kind of life! It was a lucky thing for him, I came along and showed him how to live life to the fullest so he could get the girl, or else he'd still be practicing three hours a day!" _ he said._

"I'm sure! Well, I'm going to tell him he's not hopeless and he has a lot in common with her!"_ I said._

"Such as?"

"Being a human being. Laughing, breathing, eating, enjoying nature! Those are all things I guarantee he has in common with her and those are all good places to start a conversation, wouldn't you agree?"_ I asked him._

_"_I suppose so."_ he shrugged. When silence fell between us, I took this opportunity to put my plan to work._

"Uh...Jack?" _I said. He eyed me suspiciously._

_"_Aye?"

"Could you get me a glass of cold milk?"

"Why?" _ he asked._

"I find it helps me sleep. And I'm going to need all the help I can get if I'm to sleep on the living room floor!" _I reasoned with him._

"Well..."_he said._

_"_Please?" _I pouted. I didn't realize it then, but Jack's heart melted when he saw me pout. He couldn't resist it._

"Alright! I'll be right back!" _he sighed getting off the bed and walking out. I rushed behind him, and closed the door with a click of the lock. Jack stopped in the hallway, pursed his lips, and turned back towards the door. And to my surprise, he walked straight through the door, picked me up, and opened the door with me hitting his shoulder. As he deposited me on the floor, he said,_

_"_Nice try!"_ He closed the door with me fuming on the floor. He had started to crawl into bed when he saw my laptop still on the bed next to him. His lips curled in a devilish grin as he took the laptop and began to type, his revenge for my trying to trick him fresh in his mind._

_The next morning was Sunday, so imagine my surprise, when I heard the doorbell go off at eight thirty in the morning. I crawled out of my sleeping bag and slowly walked over to the door, scratching various places and yawning. I opened the door and found my editor Maggie on the other side. _

"Maggie? What's wrong?"_ I asked fighting back a yawn and blinking. The forty year old blond held out a piece of paper and said, _

_"_This is a joke right?"_ I took the paper as she continued_, "When you emailed this to me last night, I knew this couldn't be your column, although I must admit, it was written very well!"

_"_Email?"_ I said as I read, _

_'Dear Hopeless Whelp, _

_You want to get the girl? Then don't aim for that broad you mentioned. The only way you could get her, is if you actually got a life and the other half of your brain. Move bloody on man! _

_Kindest Personal Regards, _

_Alice' I looked up from the email, my eyes seeing red. I said to myself, _

"If he weren't already dead, I'd kill him!"

"What was that?" _ asked Maggie not hearing. _

"Look Mags, I'll send you the real column tonight, I promise! Bye!"_ I said ushering her out. I looked up to the catwalk and the hallway connecting to the locked bedroom door. I went to the kitchen, fished a small screwdriver out of the junk drawer and bounded up the stairs. After a minute of working it, the lock popped open, and I crept into the bedroom seeing Jack still sound asleep, lightly snoring. I stood over him surprised at how innocent he looked, then I took a pillow and whacked it on his head. He jerked up and said, _

"HUH? WHAT? Is the navy on our tails?"

"You wish."_ I said, the pillow slung over my shoulder. He looked up at me and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes._

"Luv, there's a reason the Lord gave us a day of rest! Now this is the one day I let meself sleep in Savvy?"_ he said rolling back over. I promptly hit him again at which he sat up and looked dryly at me, _

"I'm trying to control myself Darlin'!"

"You know, I've got to hand it to you! A pirate from the 17th century, and you know how to use modern conveniences."_ I said sweetly._

"I've picked up a few things..."_he said eyeing me._

"Things like, an electric stove, television, E-MAIL!"_ I gritted out. He smiled smugly and knowingly and said, _

_"_I see you've discovered my little prank, milady!"

"Little prank? That 'little prank' could have cost me my job!"_ I yelled at him._

"But it didn't, so why fret over it?"_ he asked._

"You are so selfish! I wish I never had met you! Why couldn't you haunt that ship of yours instead of a bed huh?"_ I asked. At this, his eyes gave way to a dangerous glint as he stood up and hissed, _

_"_Because the Black Pearl is at the bottom of Davy Jones Locker! Now if you'll excuse me madam!"_ As he stomped out abruptly I muttered to myself, _

"Well, that struck a nerve!"

_The next day, I was out to lunch with Crystal and Christy again._

_"_So did that dream go away?" _ asked Christy._

"Yeah, it did..."_ I said._

"Told ya!"_ she said digging into her lasagna. Picking at her salad, Crystal asked, _

"Anything else going on?"_ Oh nothing much, I just have a dead pirate for a roommate who refuses to let me sleep in my bed or even my room!_

_"_Nothing much." _I said. We fell silent, causing me to remember that Crystal was a history teacher in training. She was a nut about history. She watched Discovery Channel frequently, and the History Channel religiously. And since she loved to learn about the complete history of a place she vacationed at, I decided to ask her about what she learned before heading off to Jamaica last year._

"Hey Crystal, Have you ever heard of a pirate ship called the Black Pearl?"_ I asked._

"Yeah, I found out about it when I went to Jamaica. It's only a myth from the 17th century, but it was said to be the fastest ship in the Caribbean, practically uncatchable. " _she said._

"Why is it considered a myth?"_ I asked._

"Because she was said to have a curse on her for ten years. A curse that made the crew the undead. And when the curse was broken, her last captain took over but after a few years he disappeared shortly before the crew scuttled her into the side of a cliff in a storm. Besides, her last captain supposedly sacked Nassau without firing a single shot, escaped seven agents of the East Indian Trading Company, and stole a ship of the Royal fleet with only one other man to help him! It's too fantastic to believe it was ever true!"_ she said._

"What was the last captain's name?"_ I asked._

"Uhh...let's see it was some kind of bird...Jack Cardinal? Jack Bluebird? Jack..."_ she trailed off._

"Sparrow?"_ I offered._

_"_That's it!"_ she said. _

"Why are you so interested Alice?" _asked Christy._

"I got this bed that supposedly had something to do with the Black Pearl..."_ I said._

"Really? Can I see it?"_ asked Crystal excited._

"Sure why not!"_ I said._

"Hey, I say we make a night of it! Have a little sleepover!"_ suggested Christy. I grinned, a plan already forming in my mind, _

_"_Sure...why not?"

_That Saturday night, I entered the apartment, with a bag of groceries in my arms, struggling to close the door. Finally, I gave up and left it open. But then the door closed by itself. I froze when the bag lifted out of my arms and floated towards the kitchen._

"Captain Sparrow?"_ I asked meekly. He faded in out of nowhere and put the groceries on the kitchen counter giving me a gentle half smirk. _

"Must you do that?"_ I asked him._

"Apologies. Just trying to be a gentleman is all."_ he said as I walked over._

"You know what you can do to be a gentleman?"_ I asked him starting to take things out._

"I ain't giving up the bed Luv!"_ he said leaning against the counter watching me._

"We'll see about that!" _I said with my own hint of mischief in my eyes. Seeing this, he asked cautiously, _

"What have you got cooking in that pretty little head of yours Darlin'?"_ The doorbell rang before he could get his answer. I skipped (literally) over to the door and opened it letting Crystal and Christy in. Christy said holding up three pizza boxes and dragging her roll around suitcase behind her, _

"This is going to be so great! I got all kinds of snacks!"

"What are me and Crystal going to eat?"_ I joked._

"Shut up!" _said Christy with a roll of her eyes. Laughing, Crystal said, _

"Where should we put our stuff Alice?"

"Upstairs in my room."_ I said as Captain Sparrow straightened. Once they were heading up the stairs and up the catwalk, Jack rushed over to me and said, _

"NO, no, no! Not good!"

"Sorry Captain, but tonight, the bed is mine. For if you so much as set a foot inside MY room, I'll be making a little call to a friend of mine with this big ol' chainsaw..."_ I threatened as he held up his hands in surrender and said, _

"Fine! Fine! Have your little slumber party! But it's just for tonight Luv!"

"We'll see!"_ I said walking over to the tv and unplugging it. As I picked it up, Jack said, _

_"_You're not even going to let me entertain myself?"_ Slowly making my way upstairs, I said, _

"Read a book!"

"But all you have is old college textbooks and romance novels!"_ he said._

_"_Been going through my things have we?"_ I said eyeing him. His cocky grin returned as he said, _

"Just to see if I could find that pink nightgown, Luv!"_ As he raised his eyebrows, I continued up the stairs and into my room. MY ROOM! YAHOO! _

_We spent the night laughing and carrying on loudly. We had karaoke contests, watched romantic old movies and some more funnier ones and we ate like pigs. We'll at least Christy and I did. But I saw Crystal indulge with a candy bar or four. We did all this, much to the chagrin of Captain Sparrow, who was trying to read my copy of Southern Belle magazine, but kept looking up to the room in frustration at our noise. At two o'clock, Jack was tossing and turning trying to go to sleep on the small couch, but with the combination of his tall frame on a couch that could only allow half of him comfortably and our sugar induced antics upstairs, he only covered his face in agitation with the pillows of the couch._

"I'm in the deepest circle of Hell!"_ he muttered to himself._

_We finally went to bed at half past three. It was so wonderful to sleep in that big soft wonderful bed again! When I woke up, it was almost noon. I haven't slept till noon in years. I was reluctant to get out of bed, so I lingered a few minutes more before crawling out. I went downstairs quietly so as to not wake up my guests. I began to fix pancakes when I felt someone was staring at me in the kitchen entryway. I looked over my shoulder, a little surprised to see Captain Sparrow up since moments before he was snoring lightly on the loveseat, his legs dangling over the edge. I expected the cold shoulder, a harsh word or at least a rude remark, but he threw me off guard when he said quietly, _

"You know...you are a beautiful woman."

"Huh?"

"You are."_ he said. _

_"_Okay..."_ I said turning back to the griddle a little more than confused. That's when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist pulling me close to his body._

_"Captain Sparrow, what are you doing?" I asked. Inhaling the scent of my hair, he said, _

" Smelling you."

"Why?"_ I asked._

"Why not?"_ he said._

"Alice? Who are you talking to?"_ yawned Christy's voice as she came into the kitchen, her sister following behind with a blanket wrapped over her head and shoulders. Jack let go of me and returned to the living room, giving me a playful grin and a wink as he went._

_"_Just thinking out loud." _I said watching him go out of the corner of my eye. Later, me and the twins were eating our pancakes when the doorbell rang. It was Todd Scott. _

_"Hi Todd!" I smiled as Jack groaned. The girls perked their heads up in interest. Todd held up the massive Sunday paper and said, _

"They did it again!"

"Or he's just picking up your paper to give him a lame excuse to come over!"_ muttered Jack leafing through Southern Belle._

"Thanks Todd!"_ I said taking the paper with both hands._

"Listen, I've got two tickets to that musical downtown. Would you like to go with me?" _ he asked._

"I'd love to!"_ I said as the twins giggled and squealed. Jack groaned again._

"Great. I'll pick you up Saturday at seven. Be sure to dress up!" _ he said._

"You know where I live!"_ I flirted._

"Bye!"

"Bye!"_ I told him as I shut the door._

"OH MY GOSH! Tell me that did not just happen!"_ said Crystal._

"IT DID!"_ I gushed._

"He is a hottie! Dish sis!"_ said Christy as Jack groaned once more. After I had told them everything, Crystal said, _

_"_Wow. A business attorney with his own practice! Major score!"

"PLEASE! Did ye not notice he did not introduce himself to your friends? What gentleman does that?"_ asked Jack over my shoulder._

"But didn't you notice he didn't say 'Hi' to us?"_ asked Christy._

"Told ya!"_ said Jack smugly._

"So? It wasn't as if I introduced you guys either! Besides, he's a great guy! I'm not going to pass him up!"_ I said as Jack sighed, _

"Your funeral!"

_The week went by in a blur. Between my failed sceams to reclaim my bed, to getting ready for Saturday plus a job, it was any wonder I got dressed in the mornings. Finally, it was Saturday and I was trying to decide on a dress. Since the twins were both working, I had no other choice but to ask Jack._

"No." _said Jack as I came down the stairs. Stopping halfway, I flapped the skirts at him saying, _

"What's wrong with this one?" _Leaning against the banister, he said, _

"Does the phrase 'How much for a night?' mean anything?"

"So you're saying it's a little too sexy?" _I asked._

"No, I'm saying that if you want to look like an easy date, this would be the dress for it! Sexy means leaving something to the imagination and having the confidence to carry it off!" _ he said holding up a finger_.

"So visually, that would look like...?" _I asked shrugging. He sighed and came up the stairs, grabbing my hand as he went. He pulled me into the bedroom and released my hand to start going through my closet. Pulling out Old Reliable, the Little Black Dress, he held it up to my body saying, _

"Now this dress says classy no matter which way you go. And if you want sexy classy..." He pulled out the bobby pins I had used for an elaborate up do, and weaved his fingers through my hair to fix it up. "No man can resist a woman with her hair down. Add a few well placed diamonds and Bob's your Uncle, Fanny's your Aunt...a vision...almost good enough to eat." _He finished saying this as if hypnotized by what was in front of him. What confused me the most, was that I was in front of him._

"I...uh...better get changed." _ I said before I fell under the spell as well. He cast his eyes downward , handed me the dress and bobby pins saying, _

"Right then! Your 'date' shall be arriving shortly." _He walked out leaving me to try to figure out what just happened. A few minutes later, I opened the door for Todd who widened his eyes in delight when he saw my figure hugging LBD and my pair of large diamond hoops sparkling in my mess of curly locks._

"Wow, you look fantastic!" _he said his eyes going up and down my body._

"So do you!" _I said eyeing his gray suit. He held out his arm and I took it, giving my apartment a quick lock up. Little did I know, someone decided to follow us that evening._

_After seeing the musical, Todd took me out to eat at this great restaurant in the Galt House Hotel downtown. Overlooking the Ohio River, I sighed content that this had been a perfect evening_.

"OW! Who pinched me?" _ asked a waitress as she passed our table looking around confused. When the waitress began to eye Todd, he said_,

"Don't look at me!" _She gave him one more wary glance before walking off. She jumped again,_

"OW! It happened again!" _There was no one around her. I began to get an uneasy feeling._

"So anyway, what music do you like to listen to?" _asked Todd._

"Oh, just about any..." _I was interrupted by a man at the next table spitting out his wine a little too close to us and yelling_,

"ECK! Who put salt in my wine?" _His wife next to him said, _

"Eww...there's salt in my wine too!" _The matre de rushed over saying, _

"I'm sorry sir, we'll send over a complimentary bottle at once!"

"Well all right!" _said the man. But before the matre de could blink other people where spitting out there drinks yelling, _

"There's salt in my glass too!"

"Mine too!"

"Same here!" _ I watched in wonder while Todd tested his drink, before quietly spitting it back in saying, _

"Whoa, what's going on here?" _I turned back to him saying, _

"Yours too?" _Before he could say anything, waiters began tripping over nothing sending food flying, with one unfortunate tray of salad with very cold olive oil dressing showering Todd and I._

"AWW!" _cried Todd._

"Eww!" _I squeaked out beginning to wipe off my dress. Todd and I tried to catch the attention of a server, but the male ones were too busy picking themselves off the floor or tripping again, and the female servers were too distracted with the pinching fingers that came from nowhere. Then to everyone's shock and horror, a lobster floated off someone's plate and began to dance in the air._

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" _screamed at least five women. Three more fainted and the men began to get up leading the way out of the restaurant. Todd grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door saying, _

"Let's get out of here!" _I looked back to see the lobster fall to the floor as if someone had thrown it over his shoulder. It wasn't until I saw a bottle of wine brought in the dining room by a confused and stunned waiter lift off his tray, it's cork yanking out and being spit in the air I began to realize what happened. When the bottle upended itself, the red liquid disappearing into an invisible throat I knew for sure what had happened._

"JACK!" _I hissed as Todd pulled me along and out the restaurant._

_When I got home twenty minutes later, was it any surprise that Jack was nowhere to be found? When I came back downstairs, I saw Jack casually sitting on the couch, his legs extended before him on the coffee table as he flipped through that darn issue of Southern Belle._

"Oh Luv, you're home! Didn't hear you come in!" _he said nonchalantly. I stood over him with my hands on my hips as I said, _

"Maybe because you came in right after I did?"

"Now what makes you think that?"_ he asked innocently._

"You're reading upside down!" _I said. He looked to the magazine in his hands and said_,

"Well, I hadn't tried it that way yet so I thought 'what better time than the present?'"

"Or...you followed me on my date, being sure to make yourself invisible and then you RUINNED my perfect evening with Todd by scaring the people at the restaurant!" _I yelled my voice rising in crescendo._

"Moi?" _he asked as if in shock, a hand to his chest._

"YOU! You...you...egotistical...half brained..."_ I started to fume when he held up his hand saying, _

"What a minute, Darlin'! Now, let's suppose, that something scared you and the good people at the restaurant. What leads you to believe that it was me?"

"HELLO? YOU'RE A GHOST! YOU TURN INVISABLE! GHOSTS SCARE PEOPLE!" _ I yelled at him. _

"True enough. But I could have been here the whole time and you didn't see me because I decided to spend the evening invisible. And if I did that, then there could be no possible way for me to come home after you did." _ he reasoned._

"But why would you stay invisible? I'm the only one who can see you!" _I asked._

"True, but sometimes, a man has to walk around in nothing but his skivvies...Savvy!" _he said with a quirk of his eyebrows._

"UHH! You're impossible!" _I yelled throwing my hands up in the air and flopping on the couch beside him._

"And you're adorable when you're mad, you know that?" _ he said as I glared at him.. He shrank back only a bit before I said_,

"I know it was you!"

"Well Missy, less you can prove it was, we're to assume ol' Jack is telling the truth!" _he said with his cocky grin. What happened next I'm still not entirely sure why I did what I did. My guess would be temporary insanity due to lack of food. I kissed Jack. Right smack dab on the lips. I took his face in my hands roughly and I gave him a good long kiss. I could tell he was surprised, for when I pulled back, he said, _

"I'd knew you'd warm up to me, but honestly Luv, I had no idea!"

"Your lips taste like wine!" _I said as he blinked,_

"What?"

"Well you did drink an entire bottle of red wine, did you not?" _I smiled coyly at him as he slowly began to realize he had been caught. He shook his head and said,_

"Never met someone who didn't fall for one of my charming lies."

"Until now!" _I said coolly at him as I stood and began to head up the stairs._

"So is Mr. Scott as good of a kisser as you are?" _ asked Jack coyly. I stopped and said, _

"I don't know yet. But maybe I will next Friday night!" _He sat up, _

"What? You mean you're going to see him again!"

"Yeah...get over it!" _I said with a flip of my head as I continued up the stairs. Later, I gladly relinquished to Jack the bedroom and headed downstairs. I just did not want to be anywhere near Jack Sparrow or the stupid scrap of wood that brought him into my life._


	3. Chapter 3

_August had come and gone, and September in Kentucky began to bring in the cool air of fall in the evenings with the warm sticky humidity of summer still trying to hold on to the bluegrass. I had just come home from the office, so I opened the door expecting the same old brick walled loft and the annoying pirate ghost on the couch. What I got instead was a room filled top to bottom with beautiful vases of long stemmed white roses. Every flat surface had a vase of flowers on it. _

"Todd!"_ I breathed ecstatically looking around the room in shock. I spotted a card in one of the vases and rushed over. How could Todd be so sweet? I mean we had only been dating for a few weeks. And this must have cost a fortune! And how did he get in my apartment? But when I opened the card and read it, I realized that Todd hadn't sent me the flowers. _

_'Dear Alice, _

_I apologize for my behavior at the restaurant. Forgive me?'_

_It was Jack who sent the flowers._

'But how?"_ I asked confused. That's when I read the P.S._

_'Turn around.' I did and saw Jack looking at me with his smug grin, his hands behind his back._

"How?" _I asked him._

_"_When you call a florist, they are the ones who have to speak first."_ he said simply._

"Why?" I_ asked._

"Because it would be bad for business if they..."

"No, I mean, why the flowers?"_ I said._

"Can't you bloody read woman? I did it to apologize!"_ he said a little frustrated._

"But why go to all this trouble? I mean...you could have just said it!"_ I said._

"Now where's the fun in that?" _he asked playfully. He brought his hands forward revealing a single white rose in his grasp. I smiled as I took it from him as he continued, _

_"_Besides...beautiful women deserve beautiful flowers."_ I blushed in spite of myself._

"Um...how did you know white roses were my favorite flowers?"_ I asked. His smile widen, _

"I didn't."

"Then... why white roses?" _ I asked._

"Well, white roses mean innocence and purity. And that is what you remind me of. An innocent and pure virgin just waiting for the right man...who's worthy of her."_ He said._

_"_Hey! What gives you the idea that I'm a..."_I asked._

"Luv! Come on!"_ he said eyeing me. I deflated, _

"That obvious huh?"

"Ain't anything to be ashamed of. In fact it's something to be proud of." _he said as I fingered the full thorn less bloom._

"But you're not a virgin are you?" _I asked._

"Heck no! What do you think I am a whelp?" _ he asked as I smirked and shook my head._

"You do realize that you just demonstrated the long established double standard concerning men, women and sexual expectations?" _ I said. He nodded, _

"True, but as I think about it, I guess you could call me a second chance virgin. After all I haven't had sex in over three hundred years!"

"But you're dead! It isn't as if you could fully enjoy it!"_ I pointed out to him. He frowned, _

_"_Don't remind me!"_ I giggled and asked, _

"Changing the subject, how did you pay for all this?" _ He began to walk off saying, _

"I have me ways, Savvy?" _ I turned towards his retreating form saying, _

"You didn't use any of my credit cards did you?"_ He stopped on the stairs and leaned over the railing, _

"I can honestly say, I did not."_ Then he went back upstairs leaving me to be very confused._

_That evening, the twins came over for dinner and a movie. Christy stopped once she saw the flowers and said, _

"Please tell me Todd has a single brother!"

"Or two!"_ added Crystal in awe._

"He doesn't and he didn't!"_ I laughed._

_"_What?"_ asked Christy._

"Todd didn't send you these flowers?"_ asked Crystal. When I simply smiled and started going towards the kitchen, Christy followed me saying, _

"You little minx! One hottie isn't enough for you so you got TWO?"

"Who is he?" _ asked Crystal as I started tossing the salad. I looked down into the bowl and lied, _

"I don't know."

"Ohh! A secret admirer huh?" _ said Crystal._

"Who do you suspect?"_ asked Christy eagerly._

"Nobody!"_ I lied again._

_"_But don't you know what white roses mean?"_ asked Christy._

_"_Yeah, innocence and purity."_ I said._

"AND it says 'I'm worthy of you.' PLUS thorn less roses mean 'love at first sight'!"_ explained Christy._

"What does a single rose in full bloom mean?" _ I asked pausing to hear the answer._

_"_One single full bloom, means 'I love you'. Why do you ask?" _ asked Christy._

"No reason."_ I lied. But I had a very good reason. And now, I was more confused by it than ever. That was when the doorbell rang. I went to answer it to find Todd._

"Hey!"_ I said._

_"_Hi!"_ he said kissing me on the cheek. He looked over to the twins and said, _

_"_Ladies!"

"Hi Todd!"_ they said at once. Then Todd looked around the apartment and frowned._

"What's the matter Todd?"_ I asked._

"Where did all this come from?"_ he asked pointing to the flowers.._

_"_Oh, nobody I know!"_ I lied._

"Well obviously they know you, or they wouldn't send these flowers!"_ said Todd._

"Todd...are you jealous?"_ I asked._

"No! I just want to make sure you're not getting stalked but some ugly nut job!...OW!"_ said Todd as he rubbed the back of his head._

_"_What's wrong?" _I asked. Looking around the room, he said, _

"Something hit me!"_ My eyes opened wider. When Todd and the twins weren't looking, I mouthed, _

"JACK! STOP IT!"

"Anyway, I was going to cancel our date because I have this divorce case coming up, but I'll reschedule! Call me?"_ he asked. _

_"_Of course!" _I smiled giving him a small peck on the lips._

"OW!"_ said Todd rubbing the back of his head again._

_"_JACK!"_ I mouthed in warning. Only this time, Christy saw me and frowned._

_"_Well I'll see you girls later. Bye!" _he said heading out the door._

"Bye!" _all three of us chorused. But the second Todd stepped into the hall, invisible hands pulled his pants down revealing Todd's tighty whities! He blushed red in embarrassment and pulled up his pants as I whispered, _

"JACK!"_ Only Crystal heard me and frowned as well. I shut the door, and said, _

"So...who's hungry?"

_Later, I was typing at my computer when I became stuck on how to phrase something. _

_"Dear Not a Desperate Loser, _

_I imagine losing your job, the love of your life and both of your parents within a month of each other is rough. It definitely makes others problems pale in comparison. But what happened is not, I repeat not your fault. It sounds like to me, that you are suffering from a form of depression, and need to seek the help of a counselor. In the meantime,'_

_And that was where I was stuck. What else could I possibly tell this poor soul to make life more bearable? As I sat contemplating this, I felt a pair of strong hands massage my shoulders._

"I'm still not speaking to you Jack!" _I said coolly._

_"_Aw, come on Luv. What do I have to do? Send another room full of roses?"_ he asked smiling gently._

"Just say you're sorry and promise never to bother Todd again!"_ I said._

"Fine. I promise never to bother the whelp Scott again!"_ he sighed._

"And?"

"And what?"_ he asked confused._

_"_Say you're sorry!"_ I commanded. He filched and gulped, _

"I'm sor...I'm sorr...UM! I'm sss..."

"You can't say it can you? You can say it with flowers or write it down, but you just can't say it!" _I said._

"I'M SORRY! Alright!" _he snapped._

"Thank you!"_ I said._

"What is it about you that completely throws me off?"_ he asked._

"Beats the heck out of me!"_ I said turning my attention back to the screen. He was silent for a moment before saying, _

"Tell him to make his own happiness."

"What?"_ I asked locking my eyes with his._

_"_I was once like him. No friends, no kin, no ship, no hope. So I just picked myself up and got involved with things. Eventually, I found what made me happy. And that was just being me enjoying life. So tell him, the only one who can bring back happiness in his life, is himself." _ he said._

"It's a woman writing." _I said._

"Oh. Same difference!" _he said._

_"_Jack, I've never heard you open up like that before!"_ I said in wonder._

"Neither have I!"_ he said standing and walking out of the room._

_Two months later, It was November and fall in Kentucky was still in her glory. Chilly evenings, gloomy days, and glorious splashes of reds, gold's, and fiery oranges. Jack was tired of reading Southern Belle and sick of my History textbook, so he convinced me to accompany him to the library to check out some literature. _

"Why didn't you keep any novels you had to read in college?"_ he asked thumbing through the shelves._

"Because I either had to sell them back for cash or starve to death!"_ I whispered back. Jack picked up a volume and said, _

"'The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes'. Hmm! Heard nothing but good things about this bloke Doyle!"_ When he put the book in my hands I whispered, _

"You know, I thought most pirates were illiterate!"

"Most of them! But I was the exception Savvy?"_ he said putting a collection of Voltaire in my arms._

"How did you learn?"_ I asked careful not to catch the attention of the watching librarian._

"I was the apprentice to a mapmaker once, alright?"_ he said as if embarrassed._

"So? What's the big deal? He helped you get an education didn't he?"_ I asked._

"Oh yeah! Look at where that got me! Dead as a doornail and nothing more than a myth to a few historians who do remember my name! Ooh! Shakespeare!"_ he said handing me book after book._

"A little bitter are we?" _I whispered sarcastically._

"Well you would be too if you spent half your living life with your nose in textbooks only to find out, that if you came from London's East End, you had no chance at being anything more than a poor tradesman's assistant! Thank goodness the chance to get into piracy came along or I'd really would have lead a sorry life!" _ he said handing me a copy of Don Quixote._

"But you were a thief!"_ I said a little too loudly as people began to shush me. Leaning into my red face, Jack said, _

_"_True, but I was a thief who saw the world, had glorious adventures, and met extraordinary people. Besides, I did do the occasional good deed every now and then. I have no regrets!" _he said._

_"_Then what's keeping you here?" _ I asked softly. At this, his expression darkened and he said, _

_"_When ye find out, be sure to tell me!"_ He lead the way to the checkout counter with me trying to keep up since I had numerous books under my chin. As the librarian scanned the books, I whispered to Jack, _

_"_IF you could have a second chance at life, would you be a pirate again?"

"Depends on the other options Luv."_ he said as the librarian gave me a dubivious gaze as I sheepishly handed her my library card._

_A month later, I tried to go to my room to change for a date with Todd, when I saw the door closed. Hanging on the back of the doorknob was a complete ensemble with a note from Jack that read, _

_'Don't try to pick the lock Darlin', I had the lock changed. Pirate!' _

_I crumpled up the note and tossed it to the ground, taking the outfit with me to change in the guest bathroom downstairs. A half hour later, I came out to see Jack coming down the stairs. With a hand on my hip, I asked him, _

"So are you just going to keep the door locked twenty four/seven?"

"No, I will let you go in to shower every now and then!"_ he smirked. I rolled my eyes and put on my earrings saying, _

"And since when did I hire you to be my personal dresser?"

"Well Milady, if you would prefer I could be your personal UNdresser!"_ he insinuated huskily._

_"_Don't even think about it!"_ I said._

"So what are you and the whelp going to do this winter's evening?"_ he asked helping me on with my coat._

"We're going to a Christmas concert."_ I said._

_"_You don't sound too excited about it!"_ he observed._

_"_Well, it's just that, around Christmas, I want to do more childish things. Like, playing in the snow, looking at houses lit up with Christmas lights, visiting toy stores, baking cookies, wrapping gifts! Christmas concerts with champagne and horderves sound so...grownup!"_ I said._

"But you are a grownup!"_ pointed out Jack. _

"Yeah, but Christmas is the one time of year adults are allowed to act like children! I just wish Todd wasn't so serious!" _ I shrugged._

"You know something? If I were able, I'd play with you in the snow, show you a million houses lit up with electric lights, visit every toy store, and fatten you up with cookies while you wrap some Christmas presents!"_ he said as I laughed, _

_"_ANYWAY! What are you going to do this evening?"_ He shrugged, _

"Just watch it snow."

"You're not going to do anything else?" _ I asked._

_"_Not tonight." _ he said pulling up a chair by the windows._

_"_But aren't you going to get lonely?"_ I asked._

"After three hundred years, I'm used to being alone."_ he said turning his attention to the window. I bit my lip as he continued,_

_"_You best be running along. Your young man is waiting for you."_ That was when I made my decision. I pulled out my cell phone and called Todd._

_"_Todd? Yeah, I'm not going to be able to make it tonight. No, nothing's wrong...a friend just needs some company tonight. Okay, bye!" _ Jack looked at me and said, _

"You didn't have to do that you know!"

"I wanted to."_ I said taking off my coat. He shrugged nonchalantly, _

"Your funeral!" _I sat on the arm of his chair and silently began to watch it snow with Jack. A few minutes later, I felt his hand on the small of my back rubbing affectionately. Catching my breath, I said, _

_"_Uh...Jack? Would you mind if I gave you my Christmas present now?"

"You bought me a present?"_ he asked confused._

"Well yeah! Here!"_ I said getting up and walking over to the tree. A second later, I handed him a small package wrapped in green._

"Now what could this be?"_ he asked shaking the box next to his ear. He tore at the wrapping paper but became very silent when he saw the model tall ship laid gently in tissue paper. He held it up and sadly said, _

"A twenty gunner square rigged galleon. Just like the Black Pearl."

"What was she like?"_ I asked speaking of his ship._

"Beautiful black mahogany! Delicate craving everywhere! And the fastest ship in the Caribbean, hands down! When I was at the helm, I felt like I could take the waves from Poseidon himself! Every horizon was mine. A ship was more than just a keel and a haul, a deck and a lot of sails. What a ship was, what the Black Pearl really was, was freedom!"_ he said smiling sadly._

_"_So I guess you like your present?" _ I asked._

_"_I love it! Thank ye!"_ he said kissing the back of my hand. Putting the ship aside, he took off one of his rings and placed it on my finger._

"Happy Christmas Miss Rivers." _ he said as I caught the glitter of the black stone with a greenish tint in the moonlight._

_"_Oh Jack! It's beautiful!"_ I breathed._

"And it has quite a tale! Stole it off this agent of the EIC right before I gave him and his six companions the slip!"_ he said smiling at my happy face._

"Is everything about you a reminder of one of your adventures?"_ I asked him._

"Oh yeah! See these beads in my hair? Each bead tells of a different raid across the seas. This sash I got from India, and this ring..."_he stopped gazing at the blue stone with a distant look in his eyes._

"What?" _I asked._

"...This ring is the reason I died."_ he said quietly._

"THAT ring?"_ I asked looking at the curious Celtic design._

"Aye, I had the Pearl back for five years when I heard of this great treasure from the Eire shores being kept by this Sheik in the Red Sea. So I raided his boat, but all I found was this ring and a scroll warning the bearer that he who wears the ring, would become the dead, the body never to be seen by loved ones again. I paid no heed. That night as I sat in bed, I put on the ring only to fall asleep a moment later. I never really woke again. When my "spirit" came to, my first mates Gibbs and Anamaria were searching the Pearl for me. Eventually, they declared me lost at sea. Six months later, without my hand to guide them, they drove the Pearl into a cliff leaving no survivors. That bloody bed washed ashore, the only thing left of the Black Pearl." he_ said looking out the window. _

_"_Oh Jack, I'm so sorry!"_ I said. Jack smiled up at me and wiped the tears off my face with his thumb._

_"_Shush! No tears now! I already had many a friend weep for my passing!"_ he said._

"Still, I don't like to hear about it!" _ I said._

"And I don't like to dampen your Christmas mood with your tears. Now...what do you say we start baking some Christmas cookies Savvy?" _he said standing and pulling me up._

_"_Trying to fatten me up?" _I smiled at him._

_"_Aye!" _ he said laughing. Then his eyes caught something above our heads and he grinned._

"What?" _ I asked._

"Ain't that mistletoe?"_ he asked as I looked up at the spring of winter greenery hanging from the overhead fan. I blushed, _

"So it is!"

"Well? Don't I have a right to steal a kiss?"_ he said looking at my downcast red face._

"I guess you do!"_ I said looking up into his handsome face. He leaned down and gently brushed his lips with mine, my insides quickly turning to Jell-O. It was so warm and tender and so much nicer than Todd's kiss which always seemed to be dry and sloppy all at once. Jack pulled away and said, _

"So is Mr. Scott as good a kisser as I am?"_ I meekly shook my head no, too stunned to deny it. He smiled and pulled me into the kitchen where we spent the rest of the night talking about everything else but the kiss. _

_A month later, Todd canceled our date at the last minute, the third time in the past two weeks by the way. So instead, I decided to rent a few good movies and watch them with Jack. He scoffed at Titanic, laughed at Sleepy Hollow, and became very interested with an old movie I had loved since childhood when I watched it with my mother. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. _

"I can't get over how much this Captain Gregg and Lucy Muir remind me of us!"_ he commented as we watched Rex Harrison do his thing._

"Only I'm not a Victorian era widow with a child and pushy in-laws, and you're not a cantankerous Victorian era sea captain ghost who had a legitimate sailing career..."

"Thank God!"_ he smiled._

"...And we're not in love!"_ I finished. He looked over at me and said,_

"Perhaps..."_I looked at him out of the corner of my eye when I turned my attention back to the screen._

"OH! I always hated and loved this scene all at once!"

"What happens?"

"Watch! He's going to make her forget everything about himself and leave her to get on with her life! I hate it because he leaves but I love it because you realize how much he loves her!" I_ said._

"Farewell...my darling."_ said Rex Harrison on the screen._

_"_OHHH!" _I swooned grabbing the tissues out of the Kleenex box._

"I imagine you would rather have the fair Mrs. Muir and the good Captain spend the rest of her days together?" _ he asked._

"Oh yeah, but then it wouldn't have as good an ending as it does!"_ I told him as I blew my nose, Jack's face scrunching up in disgust next to me._

_"_I wonder if Captain Gregg saw Mrs. Muir at her worst." _ he said._

_"_Why?" _ I asked._

"Because the real test of if a man loves a woman is if he can still think her the most perfect woman after she does disgusting things like blowing her nose like a fog horn!"_ he said before I promptly whacked him with a pillow._


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: sorry, this didn;t load right**_

_A month later, it was Valentine's Day. Jack picked out a red outfit for me, (yes, he still was locking the bedroom door on me) and Todd picked me up promptly at six. I hadn't seen him for a week, so I tried to give him a kiss, but I was taken aback by how cool he was trying to be. I shrugged it off as we headed to dinner._

"So, what have you been up to all week?"_ I asked him as we sat down._

"Business as usual..." _he said starting into a ten minute account of the mergers and cases he was handling when I interrupted him saying, _

"Todd, let's go play in the snow!"

"What?" _he asked._

"Yeah, let's just do it! Right now!"_ I said._

"Ally, it's freezing outside and we're in downtown Louisville! All the snow around here is black mush!"_ he said._

"Then let's drive out to the country! Maybe around the Bluegrass Parkway where all the horse farms are?" _I offered._

"But what about our meal? I already ordered ahead!"_ he said._

"We can wait for it to come, and get it in a doggy bag to go!" _I said._

"What's gotten into you?" _he asked._

"I just want to do something wild!" _I said._

"I don't think so Ally." _he said shaking his head as I deflated across the table. Ally? Who does he think I am? A bulhemic neurotic lawyer?_

Aw come on why not?"_ I whined. He locked his gaze with me and said,_

"Alice we have to talk. I'm not going to sugarcoat this and say 'I'd like us to be friends'. I'm just going to say 'Alice, I can't see you anymore!"

"What?" _I said in a quiet shock._

"I met someone else."_ he said._

Who?"_ I asked._

She was a client of mine. We started dating right after the divorce was final." _he said._

"WHAT? Todd, you're dumping me for someone on the rebound! ON VALENTINE'S DAY!"_ I started to yell._

"Oh come on Alice! I know you've been seeing someone else for months now! That's a man's ring on your finger!"_ he said pointing to the ring Jack gave me. I fingered it saying, _

"I have not! And don't change the subject! You're the one dumping me on VALENTINE'S DAY!"

"Shush! You're embarrassing yourself! And for your information, she was separated from her husband for over a year!"_ he said._

"That does not change the fact that you're dumping me on VALENTINE'S DAY!"_ I said in crescendo._

"Ally..."_ he started as I began to grab my coat and purse. I stood and yelled, _

"NO! My name is not ALLY! It's ALICE! And you just dumped me ON VALENTINE'S DAY, so now, it's Miss Rivers to you!" _I stormed out the restaurant and walked five blocks back to my apartment before I started to cry. I had just begun the waterworks outside my door while fishing for my keys. I was sliding down the wall in agony, when the door opened to reveal Jack looking down at me with concern._

What happened?" _he asked._

"He dumped me on Valentine's Day!" _I whispered before hanging my head to sob. Jack pulled me up and lead me inside. Once he had closed the door, he pulled me into those wonderful warm arms of him and he just held me as I soaked his shirtfront. Once the first rush had slowed, Jack picked me up and carried me up to the bedroom. He laid me gently on the bed, taking off my heels, promptly covering me with the covers as he said, _

"You're freezing! I'm going to get you some hot soup!"

"NO! I'm not hungry!"_ I said quietly._

"Then what do you want me to do?"_ he asked._

"Just stay with me?"_ I asked him. He nodded and sat on the bed beside me, rubbing the covers to create friction and heat for my body. Once I had fallen asleep, he crept out of the room, and found the phone book. He found the right number and called it up._

"David's Drugstore. How may I help you?"

"Yes, do you still have any of those stuffed bears left?"_ asked Jack._

Yes sir, we do!"_ said the cheerful voice on the other end._

"Set aside a few for me. I'll be over in a few minutes." _said Jack._

"Can do sir."

"You will be working the front desk won't you?"

"Yes sir!"

"Excellent. See you soon!"_ said Jack hanging up. He grabbed his homespun blue overcoat and went back upstairs and leaned over my bed. Stroking the hair out of my eyes, he softly said, _

"I'll be right back...my darling."_ He kissed my forehead and soon headed out the door. Once he got to the drugstore, a tall skinny red-haired youth said looking at Jack curiously, _

"How can I help you sir?"

"I called but a moment ago inquiring about the stock of cotton induced animal playthings?"_ Jack said with an air of aristocracy._

"Huh? Oh yeah, the bears! I got them right here. 'Friad's there's not much left!"_ said the young cashier producing about five small toy bears. Jack picked up one and said, _

"I'll take this one!"_ The cashier scanned it and said,_

That's be three fifty even." _Jack produced a five dollar bill and said, _

"Keep the change."_ When Jack turned to leave, an older man walked up to the cashier and asked, _

Elwood, who are you talking to?"

"A customer sir. He's just walking out!" _said Elwood pointing to Jack as he headed near the door. The manager seeing no one said, _

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

_Meanwhile, a few minutes later I woke up feeling something soft poke me in the shoulder. I peeked my head out of the covers to see a cute little red bear, dressed like a devil covered with silver sparkles staring at me. I smiled sadly when Jack said,_

"I brought you a visitor."

Oh Jack. Thank you. That's very sweet!"_ I sniffed taking the bear from him._

"Just don't let word get out Savvy? Can't have it known that the fiercest pirate in the Spanish main has gone soft."_ he said with a wink to his eye. I laughed when I asked, _

"What should we name him?"

"Hmm let's see. Lucifer is too obvious..."_said Jack taking the bear from me._

"And too disgusting..."_I added._

"How about Griffen?"_he suggested._

"Too formal. Griffy sounds cuter."_ I said as Jack handed back the bear and said, _

"Griffy it is then!"_ He was about to leave when I asked, _

"Jack, how did you pay for him?"

"Well, I didn't use my ghostly powers to steal him Savvy?"_ he said heading towards the door._

"Jack."

"Hmm?"

"Stay with me?" I asked. _He nodded and came back towards the bed, lying down beside me on top of the covers. I snuggled up to him with Griffy in the crook of my arm as Jack held me. Once I had fallen asleep, Jack said to my unconscious form, _

"I'm not going anywhere Luv." Then he kissed the top of my head and fell asleep himself.

_That next month, I spent more time at home. The twins tried to get me to go to clubs and bars but I never was into that sort of thing anyway. And it wasn't as if I were alone. Jack was there to make me laugh and keep me company. He even let me have the bed to sleep in now. And every night, I fell asleep with Griffy in my arms. One day, I was talking on the phone to Christy when the subject of Todd came up._

"Christy, I don't want to talk about it."_ I said._

Repressing your anger and your hurt will do you no good!" _she argued._

"Who said I was?" _I asked her as I cut up carrots for a stew._

You're in denial!"_ she said._

"You're loopy! What's your point?" _I asked her._

"My point is that making an imaginary boyfriend named Jack to keep you in denial of your anger and depression is not healthy!"_ she said. I froze._

"What?"

"First I noticed when Todd's pants fell down. But lately, I overhear you talk more and more to this imaginary guy you made up named Jack."

"You did?" _How could I have been so careless when it came to keeping Jack a secret? I'll tell ya how. By having a gorgeous ghost distract me that's how. Christy continued, _

"I'm giving you a day to either admit your feelings about Todd dumping you or I will have to take matters in my own hands. I'm doing this because I love you like a sister Al."_ I sighed, _

"I understand that."

"I'll talk to you later." _she said before I hung up. Great. How was I going to get out of this one? That's when the doorbell rang. I answered it surprised to see Todd at the door._

Todd..."_I started._

Hey Alice. I hope I'm not intruding?"_ he asked._

"Well you kinda did that seven months ago!"_ I said._

Look, I just came to get the cds I lent you. I'm moving out."_ he said. Without saying a word, I went over to my stereo and got said cds. When I handed them over, I said coldly, _

Bon voyage!"_ He sighed, _

Look Alice, I know breaking up with you on Valentine's Day may not have been the best way to go, but..."_ Then a tall blond Goddess came up to Todd in the hallway and said, _

"Ready to go, babe?"_ Well that was a kick in the butt. He didn't just dump me on Valentine's Day. He dumped me for a Playboy bunny on Valentine's Day. _

Yeah, he's ready!"_ And with that I closed the door and leaned against the hard wood thinking._

You're ten times more lovely than she is." _said Jack appearing out of nowhere. I wiped away a tear and said, _

"I'm going for a walk!"_ As I got my coat, he said, _

"You alright Luv?"_ I laughed bitterly, _

"No. You're lucky Jack. You don't have to put up with any of this kind of garbage anymore. You don't have to worry about...trying to mend a broken heart." _And that's when I left. Meanwhile, Jack sighed, closed his eyes and said, _

"Wanna bet?"_ And then he decided to do something. He had to or else he'd go crazy. He had to do something to make me feel better. And he knew what that was exactly. He stepped through the door of my apartment and went down a floor to Todd's. The Goddess had just left, leaving Todd quite alone. First Jack turned out his lights. In confusion, Todd went over to the switch and turned them on again. Jack flipped the switch off. Frustrated, Todd put them on again. Jack turned them off. This continued for several minutes when Todd finally gave up and went into his kitchen. Jack followed him and knocked over a plastic container. Todd picked it up and Jack knocked it over. After a few minutes, Todd was definitely beginning to get creeped out. He went to the bathroom and splashed his face with water. That's when Jack turned the hot water of the shower on to create steam. When Todd saw a finger scrawl on his fogged up mirror, _

_'Don't mess with my girl.', he demanded to the unknown, _

"Who's there?"

"Your worst nightmare."_ Jack said to him in an echo. Still not seeing Jack, Todd retreated to his bedroom looking around, _

_"Who are you?" _

The question is, mate, who are you? Who are you to give up a lovely creature like Alice for a common strumpet? Who are you to break her heart? Who are you to cause her tears? You're nobody!"_ Jack said. Todd said, _

Alice put you up to this? That's it! I'm calling the cops to have you both arrested!"_ That was when objects previously packed away in boxes exploded out and began to circle around the room furiously._

"WHO ARE YOU?"_ screamed Todd. Jack appeared in front of Todd's shocked nose and grabbed him by the shirt front. He dangerously hissed, _

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow you twit! I commanded hundreds of pirates in countless battles! I've sailed the seven seas and all the oceans countless times!

I sacked Nassau without firing a single shot, I escaped seven agents of the East Indian Trading Company, and I commandeered a ship of the Fleet with only one man to help me! Plus, I've killed MANY men, but only when it deemed necessary, Savvy? I am more of a man than you can ever hope to be! But most of all,...I...am...a ghost. "

"Ga...Ga...Ghost?"_ gulped Todd eyes wide with shock. Jack grinned wickedly._

"Ra...Ra...right!" _Then Jack's eyes pointed towards the floor. Todd looked down, shocked to see he and Jack floating two feet off the ground. FLOATING! Todd cried out and Jack dropped him to the ground. Todd scooted away to the wall and said, _

"What do you want with me!" _He covered his face with his arms, but then he heard things crash to the ground. He peeked out to see Jack gone and his things on the floor. Then he heard Jack's voice echo, _

"Stay away from my girl."


	5. Chapter 5

_Meanwhile, the twins had found me in the park and Christy confronted me once more about my denial. I tried walking back to my apartment but she annoyingly followed me, with Crystal trying to tell her to leave me alone. She always was my favorite. When we got back to my building, wouldn't you know it, we saw Todd heading towards his car._

"Fine! You want me to confront my denial, Christy? Here I go!"_ I said before walking over to Todd. When he saw me though, he began to run._

"No!" _ he yelled in fright._

_"_Todd? What's wrong?" _I asked in concern. I mean come on, I'm still a nice person right? I can be concerned over an amoeba like Todd. _

_"_He told me to stay away from his girl!"_ he yelled opening his door._

_"_Who did?"_ I asked as he climbed in._

"He told me to stay away!" _ he said an octave higher as he started his car and peeled down the road. The twins came to stand beside me._

_"_What was that about?"_ Crystal asked in confusion. I said to myself aloud, _

"Jack!"

"There she goes with the delusions again!" _ said Christy as I started to head towards the building. Ten minutes later, focused and fuming, I yelled to my seemingly empty apartment, _

"Jack!"

"Sure! Stay in denial Al! Call your imaginary boyfriend! See if he comes to comfort you!"_ said Christy sarcastically._

_"_Chris!"_ warned her sister._

"Jack! I know you're in here!"

"Who's Jack, Alice?" _ asked Crystal._

_"_He's a dead pirate from the 17th century Caribbean. He haunts my bed. Jack!"_ I said searching the rooms._

_"_He any good?"_ asked Christy before Crystal shushed her and said, _

"How did he die Alice?"

"Some magic ring...JACK!"_ I said._

"Magic ring? Now this is getting too far!"_ said Christy throwing up her hands._

"Christy! Aren't psychologist suppose to be a little more considerate when it comes to people with problems?"_ asked Crystal. Christy sighed. _

_"_You're right! Ok, Jack! Either come out for Alice or let me talk to her ok?"_ called Christy to the room._

"As you wish Luv!"_ said Jack appearing to Christy's right. Wide eyed, she squeaked and fainted to the floor, me, Jack and Crystal watching helplessly. Bending over our friend, we tried to wake her, when Jack sighed and picked her up. This caused quite a shock to Crystal, who still couldn't see or hear Jack, but I comforted her as she watched her sister seemingly float upstairs to the bedroom. We soon followed with Crystal asking, _

"So it's true? You do have a ghost here in the apartment?"

"Yeah." _I nodded not too sure about what to stay in this sort of situation._

_"_Can I talk to him?" _ she asked._

_"_As long as you promise that you aren't going to faint either?" _ I told her smiling once we had gotten to the room. She stepped forward a little uncertain, but then she said, _

"Jack?"

"At your service Milady."_ said Jack appearing behind her. She jumped but then smiled at him politely._

_"_Hello."

"Good afternoon Miss Crystal."_ he said with a nod of his head._

_"_Thank you for bringing my sister upstairs!" _ said Crystal._

_"_You're welcome!" _Jack said. Crystal muttered to me, _

"Now what?"_ Jack answered for me, _

"Why don't you two lovely ladies discuss the matter at hand, while I attend to the nasty little bump on Miss Christy's head, Savvy?"

_"_Good idea! Come on Crystal!"_ I sighed pulling Crystal out of the room._

_"_It was nice to meet you!" _she said._

_"_Likewise."_ said Jack. Once out of Jack's hearing, Crystal whispered to me, _

"He's cute!" _ I giggled at this. Fifteen minutes later, I had finished telling Crystal everything about Jack. She was amazed. _

"Wow, no wonder you like to stay home!"_ she said._

"Crystal!"_ I said._

"Oh, come on Al! I could feel the sparks between you two!"_ teased Crystal._

"Only problem is, one of those sparks is dead..."_I said sadly. That's when we noticed Christy rigidly coming down the stairs._

"I need to get home!"

"You ok sis?"_ asked Crystal concerned._

_"_No, it would seem Alice has passed her delusions off to me! I woke up to find a pirate putting an ice pack on my head!"_ said Christy heading towards the door._

"I saw Jack too Chris! He's real!"_ said Crystal. Christy paused and whispered, _

"It's spreading!"_ And with a whimper, she went out the door. Frantic to catch her, Crystal said to me, _

"Uh...I'll talk to you later Al! I gotta go convince my sister, there really is a pirate ghost named Jack Sparrow!"

"Captain Jack Sparrow!"_ I corrected. She nodded at me before yelling, _

"Bye Captain!"

"Have a pleasant evening Miss Crystal!" _ Jack called down from the bedroom. With one last smile in my direction, Crystal ran out to find her twin, while I looked towards the bedroom determined to settle some unfinished business with the good Captain. I entered the room, seeing him look out the window, _

_"_Jack..."_I started._

"Alice I already know what you are going to say. I shouldn't have scared Todd like I did and I apologize for that."

"The question is...why did you scare Todd?" _ I asked. He turned and looked at me, smiling sadly._

_"_I'm leaving Luv."_ he said._

_"_What?" _ I asked in shock. He stepped forward and said, _

"I've caused enough problems in your life. You don't need me to have more people think you're insane. Not everyone is like Miss Crystal, you know."

"But Jack..."_ He shushed me and put a finger to my lips. His eyes only got sadder at the touch when he said, _

_"_It's time I moved on. Who knows? Maybe, hanging on to that last piece of the Pearl is why I haven't left this world. I just wish...I wish I had figured that out...before I began to feel the way I do."

"What do you feel Jack?"_ I whispered. He only shifted his gaze down and said, _

"Goodbye Alice." _ Then he walked out of the bedroom._

_"_Jack!"_ I cried out rushing after him. But when I looked over the railing of the catwalk, I saw nothing but an empty apartment. And I felt as if something strong was missing from the room. Jack was gone. I walked back to my room in a daze. I sat on the bed, and picked up Griffy. I clutched him close to my chest and shuddered. That was when it hit me. I loved Jack. I had fallen in love with a ghost. That's why Todd's kisses weren't as good as Jack's, or why I felt safe with him, or why I laughed more. I loved him. And now he was gone. As the tears started to trail down my cheeks I laid down on the bed and cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this pain away. _


	6. Chapter 6

_I woke up the next day, to the sound of my doorbell. I flew to the door wishing with all my might that it was Jack (though looking back, why would a ghost not just walk in?). To my disappointment, it was the twins. Christy was muttering to herself all the way to sitting on the couch. I raised an eyebrow at Crystal._

"She's ok. And she believes, but now she's questioning every idea she's ever accepted as fact!" _ said Crystal._

"I can understand that!"_ I said._

"We have to talk!"_ said Crystal shutting the door behind her. _

_"_About what?"_ I asked. Crystal pulled me to the couch and we sat on either side of Christy who was still muttering._

"If ghosts are real, are goblins?" _she said._

"Last night, I began to think about that story you told me on how Captain Sparrow died. So I did a little digging on the internet and I found that ring you told me about!"_ said Crystal._

"So?" _I shrugged._

"And what about Santa Claus?"_ said Christy._

"So! The curse of the ring was written in Gaelic, or ancient Irish. And it says that any who wear the ring, are cursed to be like the dead, never to be seen by loved ones again!"_ said Crystal._

"I know that part Crystal!"_ I said._

"Is the Easter Bunny?..."_ said Christy._

_"_But Jack read it as that any who wear the ring are to be the dead, not be LIKE the dead!"_ said Crystal._

"What are you saying?"_ I asked her._

_"_And let's not forget gnomes!"_ said Christy shaking her head._

"Jack is still alive! According to historians, until the yeah 1675 when the ring disappeared at the hands of a pirate (that would be Jack), numerous people claimed that they thought they were dead until they took the ring off! Then they figured out the ring only gives them immortality and the powers of a ghost! The curse part comes in, when they looked around and realize that no one they knew was alive anymore!"_ explained Crystal._

_"_Never to be seen by loved ones again!"_ I said taking this all in, beginning to comprehend._

"Many of those people killed themselves because of it! They couldn't handle living in a world not their own! But I think Jack can! We have to tell him he's still alive!"_ said Crystal. My face fell._

"We can't."_ I said sadly._

_"_Why not?"_ she asked me._

"He left. He...didn't want to cause me anymore problems!"_ I said._

_"_But how do we find him?"_ asked Crystal._

"I'll drive!" _said Christy standing up and walking out, leaving the two of us to follow her confusingly. Ten minutes later, we were driving around downtown Louisville quietly scanning the streets for Jack. _

"We have to find him!"_ I said breaking the silence._

"To tell him he's still alive!" _ nodded Crystal._

"Among other things!" _ I added reflecting to myself. Crystal reached to the backseat and gave my hand an understanding squeeze. I sighed, _

"All right, if I were a pirate from the 17th century, where would I be?" _ Christy said, _

_"_Hang on!" _ She turned a sharp corner, causing surrounding cars to honk in protest._

"Uh, Chris...you've had a shock, maybe, it wasn't such a good idea to let you drive!"_ said Crystal. But as we neared the bridge heading towards Indiana, I smiled and said, _

_"_Christy! You're a genius!" _As we began to cross the bridge overlooking the Ohio River, I frantically scanned the edges. Then I saw a figure in a blue overcoat and brown tricorn staring over the water on the right side of the bridge._

_"_There he is!"_ I said in joy as Christy pulled over as much as she could and stopped. I got out, just as I heard a thunderclap overhead, the dark clouds threatening to break any minute. _

_"_Jack!" _I yelled running up to him. He turned his gaze from the water to me and said in surprise, _

"Luv? What are ye doing here?"

"Jack, you're still alive!" _ I spouted out._

_"_What?"_ he asked quirking an eyebrow._

"That ring doesn't kill it's wearer, it only makes them immortal and have ghost powers! You've been alive all this time! The curse is when you take the ring off and realize you don't know anybody or how to live in a new time! Crystal told me so!"_ I rambled on. He looked down to the ring and said, _

_"_All these years...I've been alive...and I didn't even know it!"

"But now you can take it off Jack! And you can live a normal life again!"_ I said. He eyed me and said, _

"What if I don't want to?"_ he said._

"What?" _I asked the wind beginning to pick up flapping my hair about._

"After all you just said the curse really begins after I take the ring off! How am I live in a world with no record of a past? Why should I want to?"_ he asked staring intently at me expecting me to answer. _

_"_Because!"_ I said._

"Because why Darlin'?"_ he asked._

"Because I love you! I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you! It's completely selfish of me to want you to do something just because I want you to be with me, but I don't care! I love you! And if you decide to keep the ring on, I still want to spend the rest of my days with you!"_ I blurted out, everything out in the open now. He smiled gently, _

_"_Like Captain Gregg and Mrs. Muir should have done?"

"Yeah!"_ I said now realizing that I was crying. He stepped forward and looked down at the ring, _

"On the one hand, I can stay immortal and use my powers to become a great pirate again, taking the ring off when I've got enough swag to buy me own little island somewhere in the Caribbean..."

"You could do that." _ I said disappointment beginning to mount. Then he looked up at me._

"On the other hand..."_He took off the ring and said before chucking it over his shoulder into the Ohio River,_

"...I love you!" _Then he grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me close, kissing me forcefully just as it began to downpour. I felt his passion, his love, his desire. I reveled in the smell of him, the earthy smell of the sea, spices and rum. I felt like I was floating. FLOATING!_

_"_Hey!"_ We broke the kiss, to see a police office addressing us._

"Sir, would you and the lady mind getting into your car and go? You're holding up traffic!"_ said the cop to Jack. Jack looked around before saying, _

"You are speaking to me right?"

"Yes I am!" _said the officer in a crisp tone. Jack smiled and cocked his head, _

_"_Just checking!"_ And with that, Jack took off his coat and wrapped it around my shoulders, nodding to the officer as he led me back to the car._

_"_Bye!" _I said happily to the cop._

"Never was comfortable around the Law anyway!"_ muttered Jack to me causing me to laugh. When we got into the car, Jack nodded to the twins, _

"Ladies!"

"Welcome to the 21st century Captain."_ said Crystal as Christy started up the car and went on. I cuddled into Jack's wet shoulder never more happy in my life._

_"_Seatbelts!" _said Christy as we drove off in the pouring rain. _

_I'd like to say, that this would be a very good place to end my story. But it's not the ending. Two months, one fake past complete with social security card (thanks Crystal, how you did it I'll never know!), and a wedding and a honeymoon later, Jack carried me into our bedroom and laid me on the bed._

_"_You will forgive me Mrs. Sparrow, if I am a touch rusty. I haven't made love to a woman for four hours!"_ he joked._

"I still feel sorry for that stewardess who caught us!"_ I said smiling at the recent memory. Jack began to kiss my neck as I continued, _

"I'm so glad we're home!"

"Mmm Hmm!"_ said Jack snuggling in my hair. I began to look back over the last few months, when a question formed in my mind._

"Jack?"

"Hmm?"_ he said pecking my lips and then beginning to reach his hand under my t-shirt._

_"_How did you pay for things when you were cursed? The flowers, Griffy. You never did tell me."_ I asked. He sighed and rolled over onto his back. _

"You're not going to let me christen this bed until you know aren't you?"_ he said. I nodded as I laid on top of Jack waiting for him to answer. He sputtered his lips and said, _

"Just don't be mad at me!"_ Then he reached with his right hand over the bed and pulled out a hidden drawer in the bed frame, it's contents full of sparkling gold coins and rich jewels in dark hues sparkling in the light. My mouth wide with shock, I looked back at my husband and said, _

"Oy Vey!"_ He nodded and said, _

"That was the other reason I hung around this bed!"

"Duh!"_ I said. He half grinned at me and said, _

"Now...where were we?"_ He kissed me passionately and rolled me over. Nine months ago, I was looking for something dark, exotic, and elegant. Strong, handsome, with just a touch of whimsy. I thought I was looking for a bed. Well, I got that and infinitely more. I got the love of a lifetime_.

The End


End file.
